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Newman has now won the pole seven times at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including twice this year. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

For the 16th time this year, NASCAR's new Gen-6 car has set a Sprint Cup track qualifying record. This one came on a brilliantly blue Friday afternoon, when Chevrolet driver Ryan Newman ran 136.497 miles per hour in time trials for Sunday afternoon's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Newman's pole-winning lap beat the nine-week-old record of 135.922 mph, set by Brad Keselowski for the July 14 race. Fellow Chevrolet drivers Kasey Kahne and teammate Jeff Gordon also broke the previous record, Kahne at 136.082 mph and Gordon at 136.053 mph. Fourth-fastest Kurt Busch (at 135.868 mph) was the highest-finishing driver to miss the previous record.

Others among the top 10 to start the 300-lap, 317-mile race: Martin Truex Jr. in a Toyota, Joey Logano in a Ford, Paul Menard and Kevin Harvick in Chevys, point-leader Matt Kenseth in a Toyota and Greg Biffle in a Ford. The pole was Newman's seventh at NHMS, his second in 28 tries this year, the 51st of his Cup career and the second time this year (after Indianapolis in July) he's set a track record.

Gordon was happy to be third, but slightly irritated -- only for show, probably -- that he hadn't beaten Kahne. “I wanted to beat him to get him for Seattle (a Kahne favorite) beating my 49'ers (Gordon's team) the other night,” the four-time champion said.

As for his lap: “It came off Turn 4 (for the first lap) wiggling and sliding, and I thought, 'Well, OK, maybe I can make up for it in Turn 1 and 2,' ” he said. “Then I got off Turn 2 really bad, and at that point it was all about regrouping and trying to put a second lap together. I was shaking when I got out of the car because that first lap was so hairy and on the edge. I knew I had a lot of ground to make up.”

Kenseth, Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch also have set two track records this year. The other six records have come from Keselowski, Gordon, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Marcos Ambrose. On Friday afternoon, only Kyle Busch, Logano and Kahne were on the pole before Newman took it for good late in the 43-car session.

“This track is the birthplace of track position, so qualifying great is extremely important,” Newman said. “That's obvious for where we are in points (eighth) and this time of year (the championship-deciding Chase). It's really difficult to pass here. Having a good pit selection and having all those things we've had so many times before (is important). Last time we were on the pole here we led a lot of laps and we won. I hope we can duplicate that.”

The first four on the grid are among the 13 drivers in the Chase for the Championship playoff series: Newman, Kahne, Gordon and Kurt Busch. Six of the next eight qualifiers also are eligible for the Sprint Cup: Logano, Harvick, Kenseth, Biffle, Johnson and Kyle Busch. The other three Chase drivers qualified poorly: Clint Bowyer and Earnhardt Jr. were 16th and 17th, and Edwards was 26th after lightly brushing the wall on his lap.